Multiple bottle carriers for holding and carrying bottles or jugs by their necks are well known. A common type of commercially available carrier is fabricated from thin gauge sheets of plastic. The thin planar sheet is die-cut to provide holes for engaging the necks of the containers and holes for grasping the carrier, and is thermo-formed into a three- dimensional shape to provide structural integrity to the carrier. There are several problems with this carrier. First, the thermo-formed plastic sheet shrouds the container, obscuring visibility of the product and product labels. Second, the thin gauge of the plastic material makes the carrier uncomfortable to carry.
An integrally molded carrier for carrying multiple containers by their necks is disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,129,397. The carrier disclosed therein is designed to carry six large bottles, typically one-gallon plastic jugs containing a liquid such as milk, fruit juice or water. While such products are sold in bulk in packs of six, it is advantageous from a pricing standpoint for retailers to sell 64 ounce or half-gallon bottles three to a package.
Carrying handles for three bottles, however, are awkward and difficult to use. An example of such a carrier is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,295, which discloses an in-line design bottle carrier capable of carrying three bottles by their necks by means of three uniformly spaced split collars mounted within a frame interconnected by a single row of longitudinally extending rigid bars. The carrier features two loops on the outside of the necks of the bottles which must be pulled up and grasped by the user. These handles tend to stick up above the necks of the bottles, making the bottle/carrier combination difficult to ship. The 295 carrier is also difficult to apply to groups of three bottles with automated equipment. In addition the in-line design of the 295 carrier makes the lifting of three half-gallon bottles awkward.
The present invention provides an integrally molded carrier for carrying multiple containers by their necks and includes a substantially planar web having three nodes defining three annular supports. A flexible annular neck-engaging flange integral with the web is arranged within each annular support for releasably engaging the necks of containers. The centers of the annular supports correspond to the three corners of a triangle, preferably a right triangle.
In one embodiment, the web has three branches including a medial branch and a pair of lateral branches extending from each side of the medial branch so as to form a substantially T-shaped web structure. The web may include scalloped edges adjacent the medial branch for providing a comfortable gripping handle for the carrier.
In a second embodiment, the web is substantially triangular in shape with the sides of the triangle being inwardly radiused, and includes an arcuate opening which, together with the web, forms a handle.
The geometry of both web designs provides a balanced bottle carrier that enables three bottles to be lifted by hand and easily carried. With the web""s triangle geometry, the three bottles are balanced relative to the gripping handle so that their weight is distributed evenly.